Catawba River Region Midseason Report

Can you believe we're already at the halfway point of the 2025 season?    There's been no shortage of storylines in what is a loaded group of teams in the Catawba River Region.   A couple of the teams have household names on their squad and can make plays all over the field like South Pointe's [player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'], who shined in a <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/currence-south-point-overpowers-ac-flora/">big region win over AC Flora two weeks ago</a> or Indian Land's [player_tooltip player_id='1819992' first='Sequel' last='Patterson'] and Catawba Ridge's [player_tooltip player_id='1422524' first='Josh' last='Dobson'], who have both made plays on offense and defense. All of them will have an impact on where things stand at the end of the regular season.   There's a good supporting cast area wide in the backfield, with names like Northwestern's [player_tooltip player_id='1823340' first='Nigel' last='Smith'] who has ran for 541 yards and eight touchdowns on the year, Clover's [player_tooltip player_id='1824427' first='Grady' last='Stone'], one of the more physical backs in the area, and he has a good combo of speed and power that teams will have to be aware of as we head into the second half of the season, and Nation Ford's [player_tooltip player_id='1821310' first='Patience' last='Andrews'], who can also make plays in the special teams game.   Speaking of making plays on special teams, the ability for some players to make plays on both sides of the ball has been fun to watch like Lewisville's [player_tooltip player_id='1267330' first='Jacorreun' last='Howze'], who can go down field and catch the deep ball, but he can also line up on defense and make tackles because of his athleticism.    There are two new head coaches in the area with Jake Bentley for Nation Ford and Leon Boulware at Rock Hill. Both are known for their wealth of knowledge offensively and through the first half of the season, the Bearcats' offense is averaging 24.5 points per game, while the Falcons are averaging 30.4 points per game.   When you look at the area defensively, Catawba Ridge with [player_tooltip player_id='1592496' first='Nolan' last='Jones'] at linebacker or Central led by guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1817469' first='Aidan' last='Welch'] have held their opponents to under 21 points or less a few times in the first few games.   The stars have been out in force on defense, like South Pointe's [player_tooltip player_id='284136' first='Miles' last='Wilson'], Chesterfield's [player_tooltip player_id='1629002' first='Sincere' last='Hubbard'], Catawba Ridge's [player_tooltip player_id='1603727' first='Alex' last='Johnson'], Clover's [player_tooltip player_id='1404968' first='Jackson' last='Hill'], who is an aggressive run stopper with over 10 tackles for a loss on the year so far and Rock Hill's [player_tooltip player_id='1088328' first='Nigel' last='Lightner'], who can make interceptions on defense when reading the quarterback's eyes or show off his speed in space on quick passes out into the flat on screens.   The non-region slate was challenging in the Catawba River Region, as Nation Ford, York, Catawba Ridge and Fort Mill all went on the road to face teams from the Midlands, finishing with a combined record of 4-1. Clover, Central and Indian Land faced squads from across the state line in North Carolina, finishing with a combined record of 3-1.   Coaches will tell you that the non-region slate is designed to prepare them for the rigors of the region. And with the bulk of the Catawba River Region made up of these teams, buckle your seatbelts, because it will only get more interesting from here.   BIGGEST SURPRISES   Fort Mill's hot start – Currently sitting with a 4-2 record, the Jackets are led by quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1149056' first='Quinn' last='Kelly'], who has command of the offense with a new offensive coordinator in Brett Storey, along with [player_tooltip player_id='1820446' first='Jameson' last='Terrell'] at receiver and [player_tooltip player_id='1266099' first='Broden' last='Mitcheson'] (pictured above) at running back. The Jackets' defense has allowed an average of 12.6 points per game and [player_tooltip player_id='1394975' first='Joseph' last='Duey'] has been one of the catalysts to it.   Northwestern's dominance continues – Many around the state may have expected a drop off from the Trojans, especially when they only returned one wide receiver and lost the entire defensive line to graduation. But all Page Wofford's group has done is went from the Upstate, <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/mobleys-three-tds-defense-power-trojans-past-spartanburg/">routing Spartanburg in Week 0</a> and South Florence on the road and put up 75 points against Nation Ford, all with a first year starter in quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='232624' first='Xavier' last='Means'], who has thrown for 1170 yards and 13 touchdowns through the first six ball games and has a good command of the system. He adds another wrinkle for defenses to have to worry about with his ability to run the football on designed runs or scrambles. He currently has 432 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground in 2025. Their lone loss is to South Pointe, and things set up well as they head into the core of region play.   CATAWBA RIVER REGION'S BEST   [player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'] | WR | Northwestern   The senior wide receiver has been on a tear through the first few ball games. He has returned kickoffs for touchdowns in three games against South Florence, Ridge View and Nation Ford. He has 46 receptions for 533 yards and 7 touchdowns on the year so far.   [player_tooltip player_id='1271263' first='KJ' last='Burg'] | LB | South Pointe   Burg has been a tackling machine here in the first few weeks, with over 60 tackles, including 18 tackles just in one game against West Charlotte. He's instinctive and can recognize routes quickly and come up and lay the lumber on the ball carrier. You won't catch him out of position as he is experienced as they come for the Stallions' defense.   Casey Fikis | LB | Catawba Ridge   Fikis is aggressive at the point of attack at his linebacker spot for the Copperheads. He has four interceptions, <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/what-we-saw-catawba-ridge-24-spring-valley-3/">a few that came against Spring Valley</a>, to go along with four tackles for loss. He can play out in coverage well and read and react quickly to when the ball is in the air. Most of the time, it is a big hit on the ball carrier. He has 33 tackles on the year.   [player_tooltip player_id='1821733' first='Jayden' last='Scott'] | WR | Nation Ford   Scott is one of the top receivers in the area, and is one of the big reasons that they have been putting up points in bunches over the first couple of weeks. He runs great routes, has smooth hands and can create separation from receivers with his blazing speed. The East Tennessee State University commit is a home run threat every time he catches the ball, with over 600 yards receiving so far in 2025.   [player_tooltip player_id='1592521' first='Kason' last='Canupp'] | QB | Nation Ford   Canupp has been thriving for the Falcons, as he's thrown for over 1500 yards and 14 passing touchdowns through the first five ball games. He reads coverages well and has a good velocity on his throws. He can stand in the pocket and can find his open receivers and once he finds them, he lets his receivers do the rest.     SECOND HALF PREDICTIONS   Central will run the table in region 3-2A – Everything starts for Central with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1664364' first='Dwayne' last='Louallen']. We saw Louallen <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/louallen-stifling-central-defense-rout-blacksburg/">in Week 4 as Central routed Blacksburg</a>, and he can launch the ball downfield with his rocket arm and he has good pocket presence to find his open guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1639753' first='Aiden' last='Short'], who can line up at running back and lay the lumber on defense. But if you get too caught up in his arm, he has the ability to beat you with his feet too as he is big and tough to bring down in the open field.   South Pointe's offense will be clicking all throughout region play – The Stallions have had a monster of a non region slate to open the 2025 season with games against Hough, West Charlotte and Northwestern. They came out of that slate 2-1 with all three games coming down to the wire. We mentioned that Currence will be at quarterback, but the weapons around him include [player_tooltip player_id='1165128' first='RJ' last='Brown'], who can be an outlet for his quarterback, no other example would be fitting than when he made an unbelievable play to knock off the Trojans on the road. Throw in [player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'], [player_tooltip player_id='1036779' first='Kaiden' last='Watkins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1476906' first='Kadin' last='Vassel'] at receiver and the potential is there for them to put up points in bunches as the region schedule should be much more managable.   Northwestern and Indian Land are on a collision course – Mark down October 31 on your calendar. It's when these two teams will meet up in what could be for the region title. The Warriors are undefeated and are averaging 38.9 points per game with [player_tooltip player_id='1042719' first='Hayden' last='Morris'] at wide receiver, who can go up and catch the ball at its highest point (video below). The Trojans' defense is allowing 23 points per game, led by Texas A&M commit [player_tooltip player_id='1267200' first='Tamarion' last='Watkins'], has 26 tackles on the year so far. That makes for an intriguing matchup on Halloween.    UNDERCLASSMEN TO THE FRONT   [player_tooltip player_id='1301735' first='Dash' last='Holley'] | LB | Northwestern   Holley has seen the field for the Trojans over the first few weeks as a freshman, and has made an impact, like the pick six against Nation Ford two weeks ago. He has eight tackles on the year so far with one forced fumble. We will be interested to see if he can work his way into more playing time as the region slate continues.   [player_tooltip player_id='1881803' first='Ta'Mir' last='Thrower'] | WR | York   We saw Thrower in <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/freeman-york-rally-late-to-hold-off-union-county/">Week 2 against Union County</a>, and he's a quick and speedy receiver on the outside who can make plays with the ball in his hands. More evidence of that was against Dreher as he had a solid kickoff return with good vision to see the whole field and make good north and south progress on the play. He can also line up at defensive back and create issues for opposing receivers.   [player_tooltip player_id='1467825' first='Matt' last='Kucia'] | QB | Indian Land   Kucia has led the Warriors to a 5-0 start as they have been averaging 38.8 points per game and he has been one of the catalysts along with Morris behind it. When we turned on his film, we were impressed with his pocket presence and ability to step up in the pocket and make accurate throws. He has a cannon for an arm and has great size for the position as well.

Can you believe we're already at the halfway point of the 2025 season?